Blamed

Chapter 5 - Woods

I will say now that this chapter appears to be up twice.
I do not know why, I cannot work out how to fix this, and the second copy of the chapter does not show up on my editing screen.
Therefore, you're gonna have to deal with there being two. It bugs me too.
In other words, just skip one of them if you don't want to read this twice.

From the perspective of Ben.

What. Just. Happened?

We were sprinting through the holding crypt, searching for our four friends.
Me, Doug, Jane and Lonnie.

It took a little while to convince Doug to come along, but Jane surprisingly was all for it.
Lonnie... will be Lonnie.

And now, we're sprinting through the vast forest, looking for a way out.
It barely crossed my mind how Mal so easily caught up to us, and frankly, I'm not sure it even mattered.
That's why I didn't dwell on it.

Instead, I worried about the growing concern that was the escaped villains from the Isle. I've already lost... One person, that I care about... I refuse to lose any more.

<><><>

Eventually, the enraged voices trailing us died out, and we were left to a steady jog.
Then - we stopped.
Well, we walked.

The silence was a little eerie, especially after what just happened - that's probably why Jane decided to break it.

"Er... What now?" She was ignored.
"Guys?"
No-one answered.

I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to keep on walking, and although my friends were accused of killing... My dad... I knew within me that they weren't the true culprits.

But before I could decide on what to do, Lonnie did for me.

She stopped walking. Mal, Evie, Jane, Doug and Carlos didn't notice at first. Jay, however, did.
He let out a great sigh.
"Guys, stop," he sighed.
They did, and turned around to face us.

Carlos and Evie looked concerned, Jane and Doug surprised. Mal had a far-off look in her eyes, like she was somewhere else. She was still frowning, though.

"We can't keep... Just walking like this!" The daughter of Mulan screamed in despair. But she got no response.

Then Doug took a deep breath.
"She's right," he finally said. "What's going on? What next?"
Mal was snapped from her thoughts. She looked, unimpressed, at Doug, and raised an eyebrow.

"It doesn't matter what happens next." She turned around, and we couldn't see her face any longer. "Not to you four."
I grabbed her arm, spinning her around. "Mal! We're in this together! Please tell us what's happening, we can help!"
A look of pity flashed across her face, but it was gone as quick as it had come. Her eyes hardened.
"There is no we," she replied curtly, before pulling her arm from my grip and continuing to move on.

I wasn't sure what to say after that.
Obviously, I was hurt. Who wouldn't be, if their girlfriend told them that she didn't want them around?
I think Mal must've realised that she was a bit harsh, though - she gave a deep sigh.
I recognised it as the sound she makes when she knows we need to talk.

<><><>

Long story short - I'm not happy.
Mal is ahead, leading like it seems she was born to, while I brought up the back, frowning and grumbling.

No, I'm not throwing a tantrum.

Okay, so maybe a bit.